Explore one small slice of Conservation Ethics
Explore the spectrum of possible actions for restoration focusing on examples of wildlife reintroductions
(being with uncomfortable choices)
Today’s goal
Chat
Do we have an ecological and/or ethical obligation to restore (at least some) ecological communities that we directly disturbed?
yes
no
I’m not sure how I feel about this
Thought experiment
Imagine that an ecologically important species (e.g., a key predator or an ecosystem engineer) has very recently been lost from a local community. The loss is clearly caused by humans (e.g., over-hunting or over-harvest)
Chat
All else being equal, should we reintroduce the ecologically important endemic species that was recently extirpated if it is still found nearby?
yes
no
I’m not sure how I feel about this
Translocations
This is a basic translocation and it is a commonly used approach in biodiversity management.
Translocations
Translocations can be data-driven to ensure a match between donor and recipient populations
Translocations
Even within-species translocations or re-introductions can be highly controversial
Translocations
- Wolves hunted to near extinction
- Decreased predation had catastrophic cascading effects
- Last known wild gray wolves captured in 1980
- Intensive captive breeding brought back from brink of extinction
- Now hundreds of individuals throughout the western US
But also tons of controversy with concerns about the impacts of wolf populations on livestock, and deer/elk hunting
Translocations
Controversy can be even greater when the predator has been gone from the ecosystem for longer, when there is less open space, and when the predator inspires more fear in humans
For example, possibility of reintroducing cougars to East Coast
Thought experiment
But what if there aren’t any other extant populations of the species we want to restore?
Translocations
Can we justify translocating close relatives
Thought experiment
But what if a close relative isn’t an option?
All else being equal, should we introduce an ecological analog of that species that isn’t endemic to the community but is surviving in a similar ecosystem elsewhere in the world?
yes
no
I’m not sure how I feel about this
Taxon substitution
Taxon substitutions: Reintroducing an ecological analog to restore ecosystems, reduce secondary extinctions, and avoid other cascading effects.
Example, in the Galapagos, following extinction of Pinta Tortoises, Saddleback and Domed tortoises were released to fill the “empty niche” and help with seed dispersal.
Taxon substitution
But even seemingly similar species are not interchangeable as ecological replacements…
Niche differentiation between saddleback (in gray) and domed (in black) tortoises introduced to Pinta
Taxon substitution
And how far away (in terms of geography or relatedness) is too far?
For example, should we introduce ecological analogs from Africa to the US?
Taxon substitution
And how far away (in terms of geography or relatedness) is too far?
For example, should we introduce ecological analogs from Africa to the US?
How about their predators?
Taxon substitution
In the extreme, we could be bringing back mammoths or dinosaurs?
IF we can resurrect species, why don’t we just bring back the species that went extinct and not fuss about taxon substitutions
Thought experiment
All else being equal, should we bring back an extinct species that was recently lost and re-introduce it to its original community?
yes
no
I’m not sure how I feel about this
De-extinction
Death of “Sudan” last male of his subspecies
De-extinction
Two remaining females (his daughter & granddaughter)
De-extinction
“There still might be hope, however, for the northern white rhino. Scientists have saved some of Sudan’s genetic material, and they hope to use in-vitro fertilization to bring the subspecies back. They’ll have to use a southern white rhino as a surrogate, Vitale said, but they like their chances.”
De-extinction
De-extinction: Process of resurrecting a species (or a functional proxy of that species) that has died out. Typically proposed to be accomplished by:
- In-vitro Fertilization : produce embryos in the lab and use a surrogate for gestation
- Selective Breeding : artificial selection on living relative to produce desired traits
- Cloning : grow new individual from genetic material of a single parent (transferred to modified egg cell)
- Genome editing : making targeted changes to the genome of a close relative
From Dolly to De-extinction
“The researchers who brought back the bucardo stated that only two things stand between them and a whole herd of healthy de-extinct bucardo: time and money”
